Speedwell of Rhu’s original owner planned to take her across the Atlantic so he had her fitted with 4 water tanks (and 2 diesel tanks). We plan to add a heads holding tank, the location of which is still to be decided.
Water Tanks
Each of the four water tanks has its own deck filler, isolation valve, inspection hatch and dip-stick. The tanks are made from GRP, which gives a solid tank (on our previous boat the tanks water tanks were PVC and developed splits).
Our surveyor recommended carrying drinking water in separate containers because of the possibility of osmosis developing in GRP water tanks. Clearly that would be inconvenient so we’ve been looking at options for ensuring that the water from our tanks is good to drink. Lining the existing tanks is an obvious solution, but that involves quite a lot of work and may make it difficult to add contents gauges.
After some research we’ve decided to fit a Seagull water filter to the drinking water supply. Seagull’s manufacturer has assured us that the filter will be able to remove any osmosis products that may be in the water, making it safe to drink. Another advantage of this approach is that this make of filter removes microorganisms from the water so if we do pick up some dodgy water we’ll still have safe drinking water.
The plan is to fit the Seagull filter to a dedicated drinking water tap in the galley, using a manual pump. Pressurised water for washing etc. will come direct from the water tanks.
Holding Tank
We’d like to fit a heads holding tank. This is becoming a requirement in some places and in any case will mean that we can use the heads while we’re in a marina without worrying about discharging sewerage in a confined area.
We’ll be fitting a tank to the aft heads as these are accessible from all parts of the boat.
Fox’s have mentioned a number of options for tank placement and, depending on where the tank is, discharge arrangements. We will talk these through with the yard once we’ve got the boat in Ipswich so that we can pick the option that’s best for our needs.
Contents Gauges
Currently there are no contents gauges on any of the boat’s tanks, instead we have a dipstick for each tank a completely reliable but rather inconvenient measurement method. We would like to add a contents measuring system (I certainly don’t like the idea of using a dipstick for the new holding tank!). Our current preference is for a Tank Tender based on its simplicity, absence of moving parts in the tanks and ability to measure the contents of any type of tank.